MONROVIA, Calif. – Moran’s conducts jewelry auctions every spring and winter, and Moran’s Spring 2018 jewelry auction catalogs are filled with fun, colorful finds appropriate for the season. Starting Monday, May 21, at noon Pacific Time, the Fine Jewelry auction features 178 lots of watches by makers such as Patek Philippe, antique seals and fobs, Scottish pebble jewelry, and designer pieces by David Webb and Van Cleef & Arpels. Absentee and Internet live bidding is available through LiveAuctioneers.
Scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., the Studio Jewelry auction features a wide selection of accessibly priced jewelry in a variety of styles; most pieces feature estimates below $2,000. Absentee and Internet live bidding is again available through LiveAuctioneers.
Moran’s will offer a collection of jewelry from the estate of Betty Warner Sheinbaum: artist, philanthropist, political activist, and life-long art and jewelry collector. A member of the Warner Bros. family, Warner Sheinbaum’s jewelry collection illustrates the evolution of jewelry design from the Victorian era through to modern, free-form sculptural pieces. Standout modernist selections from the estate include a suite of hand-forged sapphire and diamond jewelry (above) by Canadian artist George Brooks (est.: $1,500-$2,000).
Collectors of antique jewelry should be pleased with the abundance of treasures consigned to Moran’s Fine Jewelry auction, including a selection of early 19th-century fob seals set with various colored stones consigned from an important private Pasadena collection. An antique gold and carnelian fob seal dating to circa 1830 features a seal depicting Hippocrates with staff and serpent and is expected to bring $1,000-$1,500 at the block (below).
Featuring the crowned motto “Auspicium Melioris Aevi [Token of a Better Age]”, another fob seal from the collection features a gold frame modeled as an ouroboros and a carved carnelian seal and has been assigned a conservative $800-$1,200 estimate. Finally, an impressive circa 1820 yellow gold musical fob from the same collection has been assigned a $1,500-$2,000 estimate; the domed upper section centers a resting stag, and the fob plays a song when a pull lever is activated.
A collection of Scottish pebble jewelry from the estate of Georgia Hollinger Clark is also sure to excite connoisseurs of antique jewelry. Also sometimes referred to as Scottish agate jewelry, this style of jewelry was made fashionable by Queen Victoria after she made Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the royal family’s summer retreat, though jewelry set with common Scottish stones dates back beyond the Middle Ages. Selections include a circa 1865 dirk-style kilt pin with elaborately engraved silver mounts. Featuring variegated gray agates and set with three amethysts, the pin (below) is expected to bring $500-$700.
A striking silver and gem-set buckle-motif bracelet set with bloodstone, gray agate and jasper has been assigned a $300-$500 estimate.
Just as spring promises new growth and verdant landscapes, Moran’s Fine Jewelry auction is abundant with brilliantly colored emerald jewelry by well-known makers. A stunning Van Cleef & Arpels gold and emerald cabochon ring with diamond accents will make its way to the block with a $5,000-$7,000 estimate; featuring a floral-carved central stone, the ring is as unique as it is beautiful. An impressively scaled Columbian emerald cocktail ring featuring a large central stone within a rectangular pave diamond surround makes quite a statement and is slated for sale with a $8,000-$12,000 estimate (below).
A cabochon emerald and diamond ring by New York designer David Webb rounds out the verdurous offerings; set with a central rectangular-cut diamond surrounded by two oval and two round emerald cabochons, the ring is estimated at $4,000-$6,000.
An Art Deco diamond and platinum floral-motif brooch consigned from a private collector in the Pacific Northwest will make an impressive addition to any collection (est. $12,000-$18,000).
A handsome gold pocket watch by luxury Swiss watchmaker Patek Philippe et Cie, which is expected to hammer between $20,000 and $30,000.
To order a fully illustrated Fine Jewelry printed catalog, contact John Moran Auctioneers at 626-793-1833 or via email: info@johnmoran.com.
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